Machine for continuously forming curved wire forms



y M 2 R O F E R I W D E v R U C G N I M R O F Y L s U 0 U N I T N O c HO F E N I H C A M April 11, 1939- w. A. OWENS ET AL 3 Sheets-Sheet l QWW N W o w M 52% 3 WIN QQ I WW0, JZ Owe 725 Ear Z v9. OZ

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUSLY FORMING CURVED WIRE FORMS April 11, 1939.

W. A. OWENS ET AL Filed May 21, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 grw /rm W lton 7Owens Ear L Va p b0 N WY R\ April 11, 1939- w. A OWENS ET AL 2,153,936

' MACHINE F'OR CONTINUOUSLY FORMING CURVED- WIRE FORMS Filed May 21,1938 5 SheetsSheet 3 lllllllll II" IIIIHI IHIHlllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllwlliIIIIIIIIIlIIIHIl Illl In: IIIIIH IIHA FY /X 6071 fl Owens 1) Ear Z Q9. 0,2;220

Patented Apr. 11, 1939 PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUSLY FORMINGCURVED WIRE FORMS Wilton A. Owens, Pittsburgh, and Earl A. Otto,

New Kensington,

assignors to Gulf Research & Development Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Delaware Application May 21, 1938, Serial No. 209,320

17 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for continuously forming curved wireforms; and it comprises, in combination, a pair of rotating curvingwheels having interpenetrating teeth, means for feeding wire between theteeth, a pair of rotating cutting wheels for cutting off segments of thecurved wire to form curved wire forms suitable as packing material forfractionation or absorption columns, a pair of rotating bending wheelssometimes being provided between the rotating curving wheels and therotating cutting wheels; all as more fully hereinafter set forth and asclaimed.

It is usual to provide fractionating columns and absorption columns withpacking elements, in the form of rings, balls and other shapes, for thepurpose of bringing about intimate contact between gases, vapor andliquid. It is desirable that this result be achieved without unduereduction in rate of throughput, or increase in operating hold-up, ofthe column. These factors depend to a considerable degree on the shapeand size of the packing elements, and there is considerable room forimprovement in the column packings now in use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a machine formaking packing elements of a particularly eflicient type characterizedby consisting of pieces of wire bent into multicurved, shapes, andadapted to be placed as a mass in a distillation or absorption column.The machine comprises means for curving wire into a zigzag,quasi-sinusoidal shape, means for bending the curve at an angle to theplane of the curve, and means for cutting off segments of the curved,bent wire to form the packing units. All operations are continuous. Themachine takes wire from a reel and delivers finished packing elementsready for use, and is readily adapted for making elements of any desiredsize. To make the simple zigzag quasi-sinusoidal wire forms, the meansfor bending the curves at an angle to the plane of the curve is omitted.When forms, such as provided by this machine, are made by hand, theoperation is tedious and slow, so that the forms are quite expensive.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown, more or lessdiagrammatically, a specific example of a machine embodiment within thepurview of the invention. In the showings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. '2 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 2-2 of Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical diagrammatic view on the line 3-3 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 4. is an enlarged view of the forming wheels and their assemblytaken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the rotating cutting wheels and theirassembly taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 1; 5

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed view of the forming wheels showing theiroperation;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detailed View of the rotating cutting wheelsshowing their operation;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the wire form 10 as it leaves the formingwheels;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the wire form as it leaves the bendingwheel; and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the wire forms after theyhave been cut by the ro- 15 tating cutting wheels.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral 20 designates the frame of themachine having mounted thereon a supply spool 2| of rod or wire 22 ofsuitable size and cross-sectional shape. A slight braking action may beimparted to the spool to prevent the wire from unwinding of over-runningthe spool. In making large elements, tubing is sometimes used in lieu ofwire. Ordinarily the wire, rod, etc., is of metal resistant to theconditions under which the packing is to be used. The term wirehereinafter refers to rods, tubes and the like as well as wire.

The wire to be formed is delivered to the forming wheels 23 and 24through a suitable guide 25, the forming wheels themselves operating asa feed device to withdraw the wire from the spool. Revolvably mounted inthe machine frame at a suitable distance from the spool support is ashaft 26 to which the forming wheel 23 is rigidly secured. As shown, theforming wheels 23 and 24 have intermeshing teeth 10 and impart to thewire a zigzag or waved form, of contour determined by the shape of theteeth.

The forming wheels are maintained in proper relation to each other bymeans of an adjustable eccentric bearing 2'! in which shaft 28 rotates.By means of the eccentric adjustment the spacing of the two wheels canbe adjusted to suit wires of various gages. Forming wheel 24 is securedto said shaft and is adapted to idle on a driven forming wheel 23. Theshaft 26 secured thereto is driven from a motor 30 by means of belt 3|engaging pulley 29 secured to shaft 26 and a speed reductiontransmission 32 which is mounted on the motor 30.

The wire in passing through forming wheels 23 and 24 is crimped into thecontinuous form 56 (as shown in Fig. 8), which disengaging automaticallyby the rotation of the forming wheels passes into and through a wireform guide 33 and thus to a pair of bending wheels 34 and 35. As shownthe bending wheel 34 is simply a fiat disk, while bending wheel 35 is awider disk with a groove 36 cut in the periphery thereof. These bendingwheels are of such a shape and mounted in such a manner that they arefree to rotate one in the groove of the other leaving a gap or spacebetween the closest points of the two wheels. This gap is greater thanthe diameter of the wire, and therefore slippage between the bendingwheels and the wire is possible. This factor obviates the necessity ofsynchronizing the peripheral speed of the bending wheels with the linearspeed of the wire form. The bending wheel 34 is secured to shaft 3'1,while bending wheel 35 is secured to shaft 38 and said shafts beingrevolvably mounted in the machine frame at right angles to formingwheels 23 and 24 are rotated in such a manner that the curved portionsof the wire form are bent over by the bending wheels into another planeat right angles or other suitable angle to the plane of the originalwave. In this manner the wire is converted from the continuous form, asshown in Fig. 8, to the continuous form 51, as shown in Fig. 9.

After leaving bending wheels 34 and 35 the wire passes through asuitable guide 39 to rotating cutting wheels 40 and 4|. The guide fitsaround the cutting wheels a sufiicient distance to guide the wire untilthe individual segments have been cut away into the single wire forms58, as shown in Fig. 10, which are to be used as the column packingmaterial. The rotating cutting wheel 40 has a groove 42 cut in theperiphery thereof, while rotating cutting wheel 4| has a cylindricalperiphery 43 with an overlapping conical cutting edge 44 which isadapted to run in the groove 42 of cutting wheel 40. The vertical sidesof the groove and cutting edge rotate in contact, or very nearly incontact, producing a continuous shearing or scissor-like action.

The finished wire forms (Fig. 10) prove to be very eificient in theirintended utilizations. A mass of the forms cling together to only aslight extent yet there is less volume of material per unit volume ofcolumn space than with simple plane shapes; with consequent reduction ofsolids per unit volume and at the same time with increase of free spaceper unit volume. The mass of forms are moreover of such character as tomake for even distribution of fluids flowing therethrough. Channeling isminimized.

The wire forms, as shown in Fig, 9, is in a plane parallel, or nearlyparallel, to the plane of the rotating axis of the rotating cuttingwheels, and is forced between said cutting wheels by the bending wheels.Therefore, as each part of the wire form contacts the cutting wheels,the rotation of said cutting wheels tend to draw the wire away from thebending wheels, and thus operate on the wire in a continuous manner tomake the separate wire forms referred to. The peripheral speed of thecutting wheels may be slightly less or slightly greater than the linearspeed of the wire form because due to the shearing action of the cuttingwheels, these speeds need not be synchronized.

Rotating cutting wheel 45 is secured to shaft 45, on which there is alsosecured a gear 46, which meshing with gear 41 secured to shaft 48, onwhich rotating cutting wheel 4| is also secured, is rotated, by means ofa belt 49 engaging a pulley 50, secured to shaft 45 and speed reducer 5|mounted on motor 52.

Movement is imparted to the bending wheels by means of a belt 53engaging pulley 54 secured to shaft 31 and pulley 55 secured to shaft45.

In order to make zigzag quasi-sinusoidal wire forms, the bending wheelsand their assembly, including elements 34, 35, 38, 31, 38, 53 and 54 maybe omitted, and the wire form 56 may be fed directly to the rotatingcutting wheels.

Obviously from the foregoing it can be seen that operations may beperformed on the Wire either concurrently or consecutively.

The machine can be used to form other articles suitable for packing fromother than wire by appropriately modifying the shape of the forming,bending and cutting wheels.

What we claim is:

l. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprisingmeans for moving the wire in the machine, means for curving the wireinto a zigzag curve, means for engaging the moving curved wire andbending the wire about an axis parallel to the direction of movement ofthe wire, and means for cutting off segments of the bent curved wire toform curved wire forms.

2. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating form ing Wheels having interpenetrating teeth forfeeding the wire into the machine and curving the wire into a zigzagcurve, means for frictionally engaging the moving curved wire andbending the wire about an axis parallel to the direction of movement ofthe wire, and means for cutting ofi segments of the bent curved wire toform curved wire forms.

3. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth forcurving the Wire into a zigzag curve and moving the wire in the machine,a pair of rotating bending wheels for engaging the moving the curvedwire and bending it about an axis parallel to the direction of movementof the wire, and means for cutting off segments of the bent curved wireto form curved wire forms.

4. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth forcurving the wire into a zigzag curve and moving the wire in the machine,a pair of rotating bending wheels for bending the curved wirelongitudinally in the direction of movement of the wire, and a pair ofrotating cutting wheels for cutting on segments of the bent curved wireto form curved wire forms.

5. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth, means forfeeding wire between said teeth to impart a zigzag curve to the wire, apair of opposed overlapping rotating bending wheels for frictionallyengaging the wire therebetween and bending the curved wire on an axisparallel to the direction of movement of the wire between said wheelsand a pair of rotating cutting wheels for cutting ofl segments of thebent curved wire to form curved wire forms.

6. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth, means forfeeding the wire between said teeth to impart a zigzag curve to thewire, a pair of opposed rotating bending wheels adapted to frictionallyengage the curved wire therebetween and bend it about an axisparallelwith the direction of movement of the wire between the wheels,means for adjusting one of said wheels relative to the other wheel forvarying the degree of frictional contact with the wire, and a pair ofrotating cutting wheels for cutting off segments of the bent curved wireto formcurved wire forms.

7. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms from wire,comprising a pair of meshed toothed forming Wheels arranged to receivethe wire and curve it, a pair of opposed rotating bending wheels at anangle to the pair of forming wheels said bending wheels being arrangedto receive the curved wire therebetween and to bend it at an angle aboutan axis longitudinal with respect to the direction of movement of thewire between the wheels, means for rotating said bending wheels, andmeans for cutting off segments of the curved, bent wire to form wireforms.

8. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprisingmeans for curving the wire into a zigzag curve and impartinglongitudinal movement to the curved wire, and rotating sharp-edged disccutting means for cutting off segments of the curved wire to form curvedwire forms.

9. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth forcurving the wire into a zigzag curve and imparting longitudinal movementto the curved wire and rotating sharp-edged disc cutting means forcutting segments of the curved wire to form curved wire forms.

10. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth forcurving the wire into a zigzag curve, and a pair of oppositely rotatingoverlapping sharp-edged cutting wheels for shearing off segments of thecurved wire to form curved wire forms.

11. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms, comprising apair of rotating forming wheels having interpenetrating teeth forcurving the wire into a zigzag curve, means for feeding wire betweensaid teeth to impart a zigzag curve to the wire and cause movement ofthe wire in the machine, and a pair of sharp-edged overlapping rotatingcutting wheels for shearing off segments of the curved wire to formcurved wire forms.

12. A machine for continuously forming curved wtire forms from, wire,comprising a pair of meshed tooth forming wheels arranged to receive thewire and curve it, means for driving said forming wheels, and means forcutting off segments of the curved wire to form wire forms said cuttingmeans being adapted to be driven at speeds independent of the speed ofsaid forming wheels.

13. A machine for continuously producing curved wire forms comprisingrotary means for bending the wire to form a continuous substantiallyfiat zigzag shaped curve consisting of substantially straight portionsof Wire serially connected end to end by means of substantially U-shapedcurved portions, roller means for bending the straight portions of thewire adjacent their ends to position the curved portions at an angle tothe plane of the straight portions, and means for cutting the straightportions of the wire to produce a plurality of curved non-planar wireforms.

14. A machine for continuously producing curved wire forms comprisingmeans for curving the wire to form a continuous substantially flatzigzag shaped curve, roller means providing a constant and continuouslydefined opening through which the wire is fed and bent and means forcutting off segments of the bent curved wire to form curved wire forms.

15. A machine for continuously producing curved wire forms comprising apair of meshed toothed forming wheels arranged to receive the wire andcurve it into a substantially zigzag shaped curve, a roller having anangular grooved cylindrical face, means operable in the groove of saidroller for guiding the curved Wire into engagement with the face of theroller for bending the wire, and means for cutting off segments of thecurved bent wire to form curved wire forms.

16. A machine for continuously producing curved wire forms comprisingmeans for curving the wire into a zigzag curve, a roller having anangular grooved cylindrical face, a second roller operable within thegroove of said first named roller, means for feeding the curved wirebetween said rollers to bend it and means for cutting off segments ofthe wire to form curved wire forms.

17. A machine for continuously forming curved wire forms comprisingrotating means for receiving the wire and curving it into a zigzagcurve, rotary means for frictionally engaging and bending the curvedwire and rotary means for cutting off segments of the bent curved wireto form non-planar curved wire forms, each of said. rotary means beingoperable at speeds independent of the speeds of rotation of each of saidother rotary means to produce segmental non-planar curved wire forms ofconstantly uniform dimensions.

WILTON A. OWENS. EARL A. OTTO.

